Heartland
by ptdf
Summary: The figure sat in shadow, a slit of moonlight cutting across the floor. The man had been a living god to Zuko once, he would have done anything for his approval. Would he still? And yet now… He felt sorry for both of them. [Image credit: karalora.]
1. Air

**1. Air**

* * *

Zuko's footsteps echoed off the flagstones, barely lit by the bailiff's torch. He'd been down this way before, a rehabilitated princeling who had all he wanted – until he didn't. The feeling was depressingly familiar.

The guard unlocked the battered iron door and looked at him uncertainly. Zuko would have asked him to stay, but his host didn't need an excuse to find weakness. Steeling himself, he waved him away and walked into the dark cell.

The figure sat in shadow, a slit of moonlight cutting across the floor. The man had been a living god to Zuko once, he would have done anything for his approval. Would he still? And yet now… _My name is Ozymandias, king of kings_. He felt sorry for both of them.

Kneeling, he set down the lacquered tray. "You had the torches removed."

Ozai leaned forward, molten eyes catching the light. "You would sing to the deaf, paint for the blind?" Zuko flinched at the tone he had lived in awe of. His father might have lost his Throne and bending, but not his will. A will strong enough to conquer the world - and put it to the torch. _Uneasy lies the head that wears the Headpiece. Must I be a monster to sit the Throne, or will sitting the Throne make me a monster?_

"You will never know what it is to see a candle and not feel its life flickering at the edges of your awareness," said Ozai bitterly.

Not being the bender his father had been, Zuko realized he would never understand just how much he had lost. He remained silent.

"The young hero castrates the father figure and takes his place," Ozai continued, perhaps to himself. "A tale as old as legend. Perhaps we rely too much on bending for status and identity. In the old days, the right to rule rested exclusively on strength. The people still expect the Fire Lord to be a prodigious bender - even if the Dynasty occasionally under-delivers." He smirked.

Zuko tried to remind himself he was Fire Lord now, not a frightened child. He concentrated on pouring the tea, raising the pot in the smooth motion his uncle had taught him. He wished Iroh were here - but he had work to do in Ba Sing Se, and shouldn't appear to be ruling from behind the Throne.

"White dragon tea," he said passing the steaming cup. Ozai accepted graciously - Zuko was unsure whether earnest or mocking.

Zuko poured for himself. "Is that what gives us the right to rule the world? Just because we can?"

Ozai smiled. "Your great-grandfather called it _sharing the prosperity_."

"Was that what you were doing the day of the Comet?" Zuko didn't try to hide his repulsion.

Ozai chuckled. "Enjoy the moral high ground while you can. The Fire Lord answers to a different morality than the commoner. Time and again you will have to choose between equally horrible alternatives and do whatever it takes to protect the Fire Nation. Azula understood that."

"Azula was insane!"

"And she was only Fire Lord for a day," said Ozai. "I wonder what it will do to you. I didn't think you had it in you, but you've proven me wrong before."

Zuko was surprised by the unexpected praise, then embarrassed for feeling pleased. "The Earth Kingdom lay conquered. What could you hope to gain?"

"To make clear the price of rebellion," Ozai said unemotionally. "Admiral Moran called the airship the ultimate weapon, the one to end all war. Which army could fail to surrender when their civilian population lay vulnerable to aerial bombardment? Alas, Moran may have been too optimistic about human nature… Now, what troubles you?"

Zuko considered leaving, but he had come this far. "There was a coordinated uprising in Han Tui and some of the older colonies, local garrisons sided with the colonials – they call themselves the Fire Province and refuse to evacuate. Dare I order my troops to remove them? Would they even obey an order against their own countrymen? Dare I stand aside when Earth Kingdom troops attempt it? In response, some of the newer colonies rose against their garrisons and declared themselves the Western League. They are independent from Ba Sing Se and have pledged to liberate the Earth Kingdom whatever the cost. The remaining colonies live in fear of internal coup or outside intervention. The Harmony Restoration Movement has failed, there will be blood." Zuko felt crushed by the Headpiece. "Will I sacrifice my people to restore balance?"

"Balance?" Ozai scoffed.

"There was balance before we started this War," said Zuko.

Ozai laughed. "Is that what Iroh tells you?"

"You would rather I spout your official propaganda?"

"Allow me to add some perspective. _Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Water Tribe attacked._"

"That's ridiculous," said Zuko, "the Water Tribe was the weakest nation after the Air Nomads."

"Not always," said Ozai, turning away. "I am tired, Zuko, come back tomorrow. Bring tea."

Zuko started to protest, but picked up the tray and left.


	2. Water

**2. Water**

* * *

"You were telling me of the Water Tribe," said Zuko, handing Ozai a simple cup.

"Yes." said Ozai, savoring the tea. "I often wonder whether your actions will have made my reign the high point of the Fire Nation. Perhaps a future prince will be just as shocked that we were once the greatest power in the land."

"I am no longer but a prince," said Zuko.

Ozai seemed surprised, then tired, then unreadable again. "Indeed, you are not. Let me qualify my statement. These were not the nations you know today, of course – each shared a common culture but little else. Ice and ocean and mountain kept them apart, and their petty chieftains squabbled amongst themselves. But things change, of course. The Water Tribe's offensive was more symptom than cause."

"What happened?" asked Zuko.

"Greatness happened, the kind that comes perhaps once a generation. One leader unified the clans – for the first time there was a single Tribe, under a single Chief. The Water Tribe remembers him as Senna the Builder, the Earth Kingdom as Senna the Destroyer." Ozai smiled.

"An epithet you would relish?" said Zuko.

"I've been called worse. Senna commissioned the largest warships the world had seen and ravaged the Northern modern-day Earth Kingdom. Other ships of the time were slow, coast-hugging tubs - and they had waterbending."

"Did political unity allow for better ships, or did the chance for plunder push for political unity?"mused Zuko.

"I'll leave the causes to the historians, but the consequences were clear. In the Northeast, the sacking of Ba Sing Se led to the construction of the Inner Wall, and a conflict that lasted centuries. In the Northwest, the destruction of the Yue temple complex scattered the airbenders to the four corners of the world. I understand they had a prophecy the temple would be rebuilt someday, and their nomad days come to an end – doesn't seem very likely now."

"There is still one," said Zuko.

"For all the good that will do. In the South, spared from the raids, Omashu established the First Earth Kingdom. Until perhaps two centuries ago, _Earth King_ referred to the court of Omashu, not Ba Sing Se. That fool Bumi retains the ceremonial title to this day. This was the Water Tribe's Golden Age. Senna sent the first expedition to the South Pole, and began construction of the great ice city, Nunaat – the one we so spectacularly failed to conquer."

"You weren't there, father," Zuko said quietly. "The ocean itself rose against us. But what is your point? Is Senna your excuse, Destroyer to Destroyer?"

"No. This was the Water Tribe's Golden Age, but things change. Ba Sing Se adapted to survive: it raised an army, levied taxes to pay for it, and built a Bureaucracy to run it. The Water Tribe remained more or less the way it had been in the time of Senna."

"Success made them careless," said Zuko.

"Perhaps that kind of change was more difficult for their society," said Ozai. "Ba Sing Se extended its protection over neighboring city-states, forming the Northern League. In time the Water Tribe could no longer mount effective raids, and began to decline."

"So invasions are a bad idea," said Zuko.

"No, _failed_ invasions are. The Kingdom's offensive was folly, but the League's was quite successful."

"You mean the Earth Civil War,"

"Yes," said Ozai, turning his back. "Good night, Zuko."


	3. Earth

**3. Earth**

* * *

Ozai nodded appreciation for the tea. "Both the Kingdom and the League called it a civil war, of course – they were fighting for the whole pot. For the city-states that had kept their independence by playing one against the other, it was foreign aggression. And for us, the offshore balancer, it was a disaster."

"This was the reign of Fire Lord Zhuque," said Zuko.

"Go on."

"After the collapse of the Sun Warrior Kingdom," Zuko recited, "the Fire King ruled in name only while the greater daimyos warred against each other. After centuries of strife, Warlord Huo defeated other contenders and murdered the Royal Family, crowning himself Fire Lord. Huo turned East, opening trade routes with the Western city-states. Our pre-War engagement peaked under Fire Lord Zhuque, by which time we had several cities under our protection."

"Good. The Earth powers had their own client cities, but it was a precarious balance. With the Water Tribe threat under control, the League turned West and South, pushing against the Kingdom's area of influence as well as our own. By this time the Court's Bureaucracy had grown to swallow the Throne itself, keeping King Tue as a figurehead. We were an ocean away, unable to project force. To keep the West Coast open to trade, we had to keep either power from gaining the upper hand."

"Then the Kingdom attacked," said Zuko.

"They claimed the League had crossed some red line or other, but basically yes. The Kingdom was larger in land and population, but the League had a proven war machine and was gaining ground. A preemptive war might have worked, but perhaps it was already too late. King Jin's armies marched on Ba Sing Se, but Grand Secretariat Baihu held the great Wall. The invaders pillaged the countryside and laid siege to the city. The siege lasted months, many died from famine and disease."

"Uncle Iroh's lasted six hundred days," said Zuko.

"And failed," said Ozai, "for his weakness."

"I wonder sometimes how it would have turned out," said Zuko, "had Uncle Iroh been crowned in your place, and Lu Ten in mine."

"Would you have betrayed them as easily?" asked Ozai.

Zuko glared. "Perhaps betrayal wouldn't have been necessary."

"Be that as it may," said Ozai, "during those hard months League forces cut off Kingdom supply lines, and the besiegers were besieged. Their retreat was disorderly and costly. Baihu began construction of the Outer Wall, protecting the surrounding countryside – he was committed to surviving any future siege indefinitely until relief could arrive."

"The League went on the offensive," said Zuko.

"The War hardened loose systems of patronage into increasingly centralized polities. Baihu won the Battle for the West and used their resources to march on Omashu. King Jin refused our support, because of the supplies we smuggled to Ba Sing Se during the siege. He saw all the continent as his birthright, and lost touch with reality."

"So you can relate," said Zuko.

"The difference being I would have been victorious, but for a child." Ozai's eyes flashed. "But that is in the past. Omashu fell, and for the first time the whole continent was unified, under the Second Earth Kingdom."

"Fire Lord Zhuque acknowledged Earth King Tue," said Zuko. "It was Sozin who chose war."

"Between national decline and war there is no real choice, Sozin had war thrust upon him. Baihu consolidated his hold on the Western city-states: their autonomy was eroded, oceanic trade curtailed, and restrictions placed on Fire Nation business interests. Sozin may have bent the first fireball, but it was Zhuque who made it possible."

"How?"

"Good night, Zuko."


	4. Fire

**4. Fire**

* * *

Ozai sipped the tea. "Fire Lord Zhuque was powerless to oppose Grand Secretariat Baihu, but resolved to change that. He began the largest armament program the world had seen and built a Navy that would have crushed Senna himself. But he died with his work unfinished, and the task fell to his son, Sozin."

"But Avatar Roku intervened," said Zuko. "Where was the Avatar in all this? Why didn't he keep the balance?"

"_Whose_ balance, Zuko?" said Ozai. "Should he have propped up the hegemony of the Water Tribe? Omashu? Ba Sing Se? There is no stasis, only flux. There is no legitimacy from simply being the status quo. As to the Avatar, he could have been Moran's ultimate weapon… but he was always a such wild card. Avatar Kyoshi did stop Chin the Conqueror, but only when he threatened her homeland, and I doubt it would have made much difference. Had he captured the Throne, the Bureaucracy would have absorbed him and returned to its own plans. Avatar Kuruk was a fool, concerned with trials of strength and chasing women. Tension between Ba Sing Se and Omashu mounted throughout Avatar Yangchen's life, yet she failed to defuse it. Even your little friend ran away for a hundred years. We assumed the cycle had been broken, we didn't expect you to actually find him."

"But he returned," said Zuko, "and fulfilled his destiny."

"Yes… They are like us, in a way. Though they are formidable benders, their real power lies in what they represent – not in what they can compel others to do, but in what others will willingly do for them."

"_The riddle of steel_," said Zuko.

"_The riddle of steel_," Ozai agreed. "Naturally, many kings sought to harness such a powerful symbol to their own ends, not least Sozin himself. Some even succeeded. But despite more or less elaborate attempts at fraud, and sometimes aided by assassination, the cycle moved on, and no king derived lasting advantage. And as with any non-meritocratic appointment," Ozai smiled at Zuko, "quality cannot be guaranteed."

"I've earned my Throne by right and fire," Zuko snapped. "Sozin feared the Avatar enough to exterminate a whole people."

"He had been personally threatened by the Avatar," said Ozai, "and barely lived long enough to execute his plans. But above all I suspect he never forgave Roku for not having joined him – not as a compatriot, but as a brother. Perhaps without Roku the War wouldn't have lasted a century. He merely delayed the inevitable, but it gave the Earth Kingdom time to prepare. Of course, that wasn't the only factor. You may be surprised to learn Sozin never intended to conquer the Earth Kingdom."

"Well, he had everyone fooled," said Zuko.

"Admiral Han's strategy was to control the seas and a few strategic enclaves, denying Earth Kingdom commerce while protecting our own. He even attempted to break away Omashu from Ba Sing Se, but the coup was crushed."

"What changed?" asked Zuko.

"War is a hungry beast. Mission creep, imperial overstretch, call it what you will. We needed to protect the colonies which supplied the coal for the ships that protected the colonies. Defensive perimeters increased to guard the increasing defensive perimeters. With the Court an ocean away, much discretion was left to the Generals. Under Fire Lord Azulon's reign the sea war became a land war, and resources and influence shifted accordingly. General Qin called the Northwest Earth Kingdom the geographical pivot of the world, the _heartland_ – whoever controlled it would control the continent, whoever controlled the continent would control the world. Ba Sing Se had not yet unlocked this potential due to their technological backwardness, but they were catching up."

"Rather self-serving," said Zuko.

"Indeed. But budgets were approved, and the rest is history. It is difficult to refuse a man with an army behind him."

Zuko exhaled. "I know."

"I heard about the coup," said Ozai.

"Who told you?" demanded Zuko.

"Good night, Zuko."


	5. Spirit

**5. Spirit**

* * *

Zuko came as he had the nights before, but now in formal robes. Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"I must travel tonight," said Zuko. "Now you will tell me of the coup."

"You have my word I was not involved," said Ozai, "whatever it's worth. But it seems reasonable to assume we might have traded places had they succeeded."

Zuko studied his father. He was perhaps the single individual to present the greatest threat to the Throne. But Zuko was also exhausted by paranoia, and lost. "Mai and I were kept under house arrest for six hours before the Kyoshi Warriors broke through. It came down to communication lines: not all rebel units mobilized in time, loyalist troops were able to round them up. We arrested the ring leaders, but did we get all of them? How high does it go? Who can I trust?"

"I am told Azula started down a similar path," said Ozai.

"Yes, and Grand Secretariat Long Feng was not suspicious _enough_, and became a victim of his own coup." He drank some of the tea. "Hardcore nationalists would overthrow me before giving up an inch of land. But they are a minority."

"A dangerous minority," said Ozai."Commoners may take to the streets, but it is armies that either support or crush coups."

"Earth Kingdom nationalists would have every last firebender removed," said Zuko, "but I suspect this is also a minority opinion among Earth colonials."

It was Ozai's turn to grow suspicious. "Where are you travelling to?"

"Aang has called a conference at Yue Bay with King Kuei and colonial representatives. He has proposed referendums in which each colony will choose whether to return to the Earth Kingdom or remain independent. Whatever the decision, a Council with representatives from the four nations will ensure that minority rights are respected. He wants to work out an agreement."

Ozai blew on his tea.

"Won't you say anything?" Zuko demanded. "I came to you for help, and all you gave me were old stories! I have no idea what your point was, if any, but I'm going to that conference, and I'll try to do the right thing for my people."

"My point, young Fire Lord, is _change_. At each major war the world grew a little smaller. The Hundred Year War proved the world is now too small for an independent Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. The world Empire is coming. The War was about the shape of that Empire –_ that_ is the _heartland_. The Phoenix King will rise again, by whatever name he chooses to call himself." Ozai smiled. "Nevertheless, it does seem ironic that the Avatar's independent colonies should lie in General Qin's mythic _heartland_…"

"Good night, father," said Zuko.


End file.
